The Village of Oblong Board of Trustees met in regular session on Wednesday, January 4th, 2012, in the Farley Room of the Municipal Building.

Members Present: Mayor Randy Rich, Clerk Ladora Boyd, Trustee Rick Catt, Trustee Joe Campanella, Trustee Rick Houdasheldt, Trustee Ken Russell, Trustee Tony Madlem, Trustee Debi Wilson and Treasurer Jan Miller.

Others Present: Public Works Superintendent Gary Lanter, Police Chief Chad Pusey, Chris Forde (WTYE/WTAY), Tom Compton (Daily News) and Scott Dunlap.

1. The meeting was called to order at 7:00 pm by Mayor Rich.

2. The Regular Board Meeting minutes of December 7th, 2011 were approved with a motion by Joe and a second by Tony. All ayes, motion carried.

3. There were no additions or deletions to the agenda this month.

4. There were no water bill customers at the meeting this month.

5. Jan read a letter from John Provines (Kemp Music) about the downtown speaker
system. He stated that he has sent the power amplifier that was located next to the video store to Technomad (Manufacturer) for them to determine why the amplifier is not performing as promoted. Mr. Provines stated that a Technomad Technician informed him that the amplifiers have been redesigned as of 6 months ago. Mr. Provines said that was good to know but he stated that he still needed to know why the amplifiers the Village owns are disrupting the power flow to the receivers which is causing the “popping sound” from the speakers. Mr. Provines is asking to be allowed to take the speaker system down and take back to Vincennes, so that he can set it up outside and test it in climate conditions before it is reinstalled on site and the town’s citizens will not be bothered. He asked for a testing period of at least 3 weeks starting on Saturday, January 7th. There was some discussion on the issue. The Board is willing to grant Mr. Provines’ request, but want a written agreement with Kemp Music on the warranty and what will be done if the system does not perform after the reinstallation.

6. The Board looked over and discussed the following Ordinances #2012-O-538 (An
Ordinance Adopting “Offenses Involving Drugs), #2012-O-539 (An Ordinance Amending Chapter 27 of the Village Codes of the Village of Oblong, Illinois to Include the Prohibition of Sale, Possession or Delivery of Synthetic Cannabis) and #2012-O-540 (An Ordinance Amending Chapter 27 of the Village Codes of the Village of Oblong, Illinois to Include Prohibiting the Sale and Possession of Mephedrone and Methylenedioxyprovalerone {MDPV}). Motion by Tony, with a second by Ken, to have Frank Weber (Village Attorney) look over the ordinances and then have the ordinances ready to be passed at the next board meeting (February 1st). All ayes, motion carried.

7. Tony informed the Board that he had talked with Connor & Connor about the issues
with North Range Street. Tony stated that Connor & Connor were going to look through what records they have on North Range Street. They will then propose how best to fix the issues and also give a rough estimate on what it will cost. The board gave the okay for Connor & Connor to proceed.

8. Under Mayor’s Comments:

A. Randy stated that Dean Myers had contacted the Village wanting to get permission to use the Park for a Bluegrass Festival on May 27th through June 3rd, 2012. The Board granted his request.

B. Randy stated that he had received some calls about the amount being charged on the trash bills. Randy stated that the Village’s contract rate is as follows: Regular Rate is $9.50/month ($28.50/quarter) and Senior Citizen Rate (65 or older) is $8.50/month ($25.50/quarter). Randy also mentioned that if Republic needed to add a fuel charge, they need to come before the Board for approval before putting that charge on the customer’s bill. Randy stated that the contract is up on June 30, 2013.

9. Reports of Committees:
A. Police: Joe read the year-end report for 2011. Joe stated that there was a Active Shooter Training session on December 29th at the Oblong Grade School. Joe read some statistics in 2010 there were 153 Police Officers killed (79 were firearm related fatalities), 2011 there were 173 Police Officers killed (68 were firearm related fatalities) and 2012 there has already been 2 Police Officers killed both were firearm related fatalities.

B. Building and Park: Debi stated that there was nothing to report this month.

C. Sidewalks and Lights: Rick H. stated that there was nothing to report this month.

D. Street and Alley: Tony stated that Connor & Connor were also going to look into possible funding from Federal and State for the North Range Street Project. Tony stated that the Village could also use MFT funds, if needed.

E. Water and Sewer: Ken stated that there was nothing to report for this month.

F. Finance: Rick C. stated that he had nothing to report for this month.

G. Development: Tony stated that there was nothing to report this month.

10. Motion by Tony, with a second by Debi, to pay the bills that were on the warranty
list and any utility bills, bills that will incur a late charge or reimbursements to employees. All ayes, motion carried.

11. There were three other items of business this month.
1. Ken mentioned that there Is a window that needs to be boarded up on the house at 305 South Range Street.
2. Debi mentioned that she had notice that there is a window that needs to be boarded up on the back of the building (where the brick wall had fell) in the 100 block of South Range Street.
3. Randy mentioned that there is to be an EPA meeting on old gas station. He will get the information out to the Trustees in case anyone would be interested in going to it.

12. Motion by Rick C., with a second by Tony, to adjourn the meeting at 7:43 pm.
All ayes, motion carried.

Respectfully submitted
Ladora C. Boyd